Countdown to the first day

The first of 4 boxes is due tomorrow morning. It's just a small one -- 8 pounds, while the rest of the shipment weighs over 100 pounds! The remainder are due on Thursday, so that'll be the big day.

We've decided to aim for next Tuesday as our first day of "school". Taking into account my husband's work/sleep schedule, we'll plan to set aside some time for school in the mornings on Tuesday through Friday (although probably not every day, because we usually do an all-day trip once during the week).

Between now and Tuesday, I have a lot of stuff left to do:

1. Finish sandpaper globe. I'm currently applying the sand, so it's getting close! Hopefully I'll have a post with pictures on how I did it soon.

2. Complete the list of Montessori activities. I started out with a list that I found online (I can't dig up the link right now), and I've been adding in some of the extensions that I want to make sure to hit and removing things that I've chosen not to buy the materials for.

3. Set up initial practical life activities.

4. Environment -- rugs, decide on buying a small table, locate and frame artwork, purchase standing lamp.

One of the big questions I've been pondering is how to introduce the new activities. I don't want to bring Nugget into a room filled with new materials -- I feel that she'd be overwhelmed and wouldn't be able to concentrate on each presentation. But she is aware of the various Montessori activities (by looking at a catalog and by attending an open house at a local Montessori school) and is really, really excited to get started, so I think one a day is too slow.

What I think I'll do is set the room up with a number of practical life activities initially. She's had exposure to most of them -- tonging, spooning, pouring -- so she won't need presentations. I can bring in one or two new activities a day, but still have a number of materials for her to work with the rest of the time. As more and more sensorial and language and math activities come out, I'll pull the practical life. I picture having just one rotating practical life activity once all is said and done.